


A Tiramisu-ed Opportunity

by ericsonclan



Series: Ericson's Diner AU [40]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Dinner, F/M, Hijinks & Shenanigans, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26651500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ericsonclan/pseuds/ericsonclan
Summary: Tonight's the night: Marlon is proposing to Sophie. But will all go as planned?
Relationships: Louis & Marlon (Walking Dead: Done Running), Marlon/Sophie (Walking Dead: Done Running), Renata/Minnie (Walking Dead: Done Running)
Series: Ericson's Diner AU [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1688374
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (by Laura)

Marlon anxiously waited at the table he had reserved. Sophie was running late. Three minutes late. Normally he wouldn’t care at all, but tonight… tonight was big. Tonight he was proposing. A ding sounded from his pocket, causing Marlon to practically jump out of his skin. He pulled out his phone, checking the text. It was from Louis.

_Good luck, Casanova! I’m sure you’ll do great!_

Louis had proposed to Clementine a few months ago. From both of their accounts of the night, the proposal had been magical. Marlon could only hope that his proposal would in some small way be as special as that for Sophie. It wasn’t anything that inventive: he’d saved up for weeks to pay for a dinner at one of the fanciest restaurants in town, Bella Luna. He’d chosen to propose on her birthday to throw Sophie off the scent. 

The ring box was burning a hole in his pocket, but really it was simply there to keep him grounded. The ring had already been given to the head chef. It would be placed atop the tiramisu and brought out with dessert. It meant Marlon would feel sick with nerves throughout the entire meal, but the look on Sophie’s face when she spotted the ring would be worth it.

“Hey, babe!” Sophie strode up towards the table, a bright smile on her face. “Been here long? I thought we were meeting out front,”

Shit, he had said that, hadn’t he? “Uh… it got too hot to wait out there so I came in early,”

“Ok then,” Sophie plopped herself down at the table, her eyes widening as she saw the bread basket. “Oh, yum!” She bit deeply into the first slice, her eyes rolling back in pleasure. “Y’know,” she said, wagging the piece of bread at her boyfriend, “This is how they always get you, putting out the bread first and having you fill up on that so you can’t eat as much. It gets me every time though,”

Marlon quirked a brow, grinning. “Wouldn’t that only be at buffets though? Here they would want you to order more food, y’know, to spend more money,”

Sophie shrugged. “What do I know? I only work at a restaurant,” She’d already finished her first slice of bread and was onto her second. “Y’know, Minnie and Tenn are lowkey mad at you for taking me out on my birthday. They said they were planning to take me to dinner and you ruined it,” She shrugged. “But they’ll just take me out tomorrow so it’s fine,”

Marlon smiled at Sophie, watching her tear into the bread basket further. He had a feeling Minnie and Tenn had a good idea what was happening tonight and were trying to keep Sophie from guessing as well. Not that they had to worry. It was clear from Sophie’s body language that she had no idea what was happening tonight besides a chance to pig out on some truly high class food. God, he couldn’t wait to marry this girl.

“So what are you ordering?” Sophie’s question drew Marlon out of his reverie. “There’s so many good options on this menu, I can’t even decide. There’s even stuff I haven’t heard of before, but the descriptions make them all sound so good!”

“Oh, ummm, I dunno. Guess I’ll just go with a steak,”

Sophie smiled warmly at him. “Dependable as always, Mar. I love you,”

The words came out so easily it sent a rush down Marlon’s spine. “Love you too,”

They eventually ordered (Marlon ended up having to pick something out for Sophie to get her to decide) and quickly settled into small talk as the waiter hurried back with a fresh basket of bread. Even with his nerves making his stomach do flip flops within him, Marlon was still able to hold a conversation with Sophie. She was so relaxed and open. It was always easy to find something they wanted to talk about even if they weren’t really talking about anything of particular importance.

Dinner was served and was damn delicious. Marlon could see why the place was so expensive. It lacked the special warmth that Omar’s cooking always had, but it was still top notch. Sophie raved about the food as she ate, barely letting Marlon get a word in edgewise. She really got excited when it came to food. Marlon listened happily, grateful to not have to lead the conversation. Finally, it was time for dessert. The waiter brought out two plates of tiramisu, setting them before the couple. Marlon admired his own plate. It really did look gorgeous, the chocolate garnish running back and forth in delicate rivulets across the plate.

Sophie gasped in awe. The moment had finally arrived. Marlon looked up in excitement, dying to see the sparkle in her eyes at the sight of the ring.

Never mind, she was just excited about the tiramisu. She was already digging in, eating the dessert at an alarming rate. “This is the best dessert ever!” Sophie gushed, practically squealing with joy.

“Whoa, slow down there,” Marlon chuckled. “We can always order seconds if you want,” Internally though, his worry was rising. Why had Sophie not spotted the ring yet? It was supposed to be right there on top of the cake. Now that he looked at her slice though, it was practically gone and there was no sign of the ring. Had they left it off? “If you’ll just excuse me for a second…” Marlon slipped into the kitchen to talk with the head chef.

It only took a short conversation with the man to confirm that he had indeed sent the ring out atop the cake. He’d even taken a selfie with it to commemorate the moment as he explained he did before all proposals. That meant the tiramisu had been sent to the wrong table. All the waiters were informed and began to scatter through the restaurant looking for the ring. Marlon joined the search in the kitchen, checking high and low for it. He received a text from Sophie several minutes into the search.

_Everything ok?_

_Yeah, just bathroom troubles._

Fucking fantastic. He was supposed to be proposing right now, but instead Marlon had found himself stuck in the back of the kitchen feigning bowel troubles to his girlfriend. The night was ruined. He’d have to take Sophie home and come back to track down the ring. He’d propose to her another day.

Marlon returned to their table to find Sophie worriedly scraping the sides of her dessert plate and licking the residual chocolate sauce off her fork. Her face brightened when she saw Marlon. “Oh good, you’re back! I was getting worried I’d have to go in there after you!”

“Nope, nothing that serious. You’d better take my serving of tiramisu as well though. I don’t have the stomach for it right now,”

Sophie gladly acquiesced. Marlon watched her in a daze, his mind still reeling. Where in the world could the ring have gone? Coming down from the high of a potential proposal with nothing to show for it had left him feeling worn out and panicky at the same time. As soon as Sophie had finished the second tiramisu, Marlon asked for the check. All he could think about was finding the ring; he had to cut the night short.

After walking Sophie to her car, giving her a kiss goodnight and watching her drive off, Marlon ran back into the restaurant. He continued to search for as long as he was allowed, eventually being politely asked to leave by the staff when his efforts of two hours came up fruitless.   
Marlon was utterly despondent. He couldn’t afford to buy another ring, at least nothing as beautiful as Sophie deserved. He’d bought the ring months ago. It had almost wiped out his bank account, but he knew without a doubt that it was worth it. That ring was perfect. And now it was gone.

Marlon called the restaurant the next day, asking if he could come back and search some more. They graciously allowed him to drop by before opening hours, some members of the staff even pitching in to help him search again. It was useless. The ring wasn’t here. It wasn’t at home or in his car either; there was proof that the ring had made it safely into the head chef’s hands and out of the kitchen. The options for where it could have gone were narrow at best.

A thought had been nagging at the back of Marlon’s mind since the night before, a crazy, horrible thought. When the dessert was brought out, he’d been distracted by his own tiramisu for just a second. And in that second Sophie had put a sizable dent within her dessert. Maybe, just maybe, the ring had been on top of her tiramisu after all and had made it safely to their table. But instead of being spotted like he expected and placed upon Sophie’s finger, the ring had gone to a far darker place. Marlon had searched in every other possible location. There was only one option left and being the only option, it must be the truth.

Sophie had eaten the ring.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marlon has to tell Sophie the truth about what happened to her ring.

Sophie sat within her bedroom at her desk, her head lightly bopping to the music she was playing while she drew. She had had such a lovely dinner with Marlon last night; he’d really spoiled her for her birthday. The memory of the meal hovered in Sophie’s mind like a beautiful dream. She’d have to save up her commission funds so she could treat Marlon to a dinner there herself. Just the thought of getting a taste of that tiramisu again had her mouth-watering.

Her cellphone rang. Seeing that it was Marlon, Sophie immediately picked up. “Hey, babe. What’s up?”

“Sophie, hey,” Marlon’s voice sounded odd, not laidback like usual but tense, almost panicky. “You doing anything important?”

“Just having some art time. You calling for any particular reason?” Sophie leaned back in her chair, a hand behind her head.

Marlon cleared his throat roughly. “Uh, yeah, actually. Listen, this isn’t how I wanted things to go down, but time is of the essence and I needed to tell you this before it was too late,”

“You’re making me nervous, Mar,” Sophie said, sitting back up in her chair. “This isn’t the cancer talk, is it? Do you need one of my kidneys?”

“What? No! That’s not it at all! It’s…” Marlon let out a heavy sigh. Sophie could imagine him running his hand down his face like he always did when he was nervous.

“Mar?”

“Sophie, the other night when we were at dinner, I was planning to propose to you,”

The phone slipped out of Sophie’s hands as she froze in shock. The sound of it clunking against her floor brought her back to reality though.   
She dove off her chair for the phone, frantically clutching it and pressing it up to her ear. “You were? Wait, what do you mean ‘was’?”

“I’m so sorry, Soph. I thought my plan was foolproof, but I should’ve known how excited you’d get when they brought dessert out,”

“What does dessert have to do with anything?”

“The ring was on top of the tiramisu. At first I thought maybe they didn’t send out the right one or the ring fell off on the way to our table, but Soph, I’ve looked everywhere. There’s only one place it could’ve possibly ended up. Babe, I think you ate the ring,”

“Wait, what?” So many emotions were rushing through Sophie, she didn’t even know what to make of them. Joy at the news of the proposal. Disappointment that it had fallen through. Confusion at the turn of events and lastly, despair at what Marlon’s statement meant. “Does that mean… did my stomach acid melt the ring?”

“No, you don’t need to worry about that! I called the jeweler and they assured me that the ring should be fine in there. We just have to wait a day or two to find it until it… passes,”

_Passes? Oh. Oh no…_

“Babe, I hate to ask this, but have you used the bathroom yet today?” Marlon was trying to be careful in his questioning, but there was nothing classy about questioning your girlfriend on her bowel movements.

“I’ve only peed,” Sophie murmured. She couldn’t believe she was discussing this with Marlon.

“Good! That’s good. Soph, I hate to ask this of you, but that ring wasn’t cheap. I can’t afford to get another one,”

“Is it pretty?” Sophie asked, a hand absent-mindedly reaching to touch her stomach where it dwelt. She could hear a small sound of distress coming from the other end of the line.

“It’s so pretty, babe. I asked Renata to send me pictures of all your jewelry to make sure I got something that matches your style, then I showed it to the jeweler and…” Marlon sighed. “You would’ve loved it. You will love it. As soon as we find it,”

“You mean as soon as I find it,” Sophie looked down at the hand upon her stomach. This was a job only she could do.

“Y-yeah. I checked on Google and all the results say it should come out in the next few days. So until then every time you go to the bathroom… you need to search for it,”

Sophie gulped. She could feel her gut twisting at the awkward grossness of this conversation.

“Soph? You still there?”

“Yeah, I’m here. I know what I have to do,” Sophie’s eyes hardened in determination. “Don’t worry, babe. I’ll find that ring. I won’t let it slip away,”

“I knew I could count on you,” Marlon’s tone was oddly proud. “I’ll come over later tonight after my deliveries are done. Love you,”

“Love you too,” Sophie hung up, letting the phone drop onto the table before her. The full weight of the conversation was just now hitting her. Marlon was going to propose. It was really happening. And Sophie knew in her heart when that moment arrived she would say yes. Meanwhile her gut had other plans. Sophie poked the offensive organs within her belly. “You’d better cough that ring up soon. I won’t have you ruining this,”

Her stomach merely gurgled in response.

Sophie groaned, dropping her head upon the desk. Curse her love of food and selectively crappy detail perception. This was going to be gross.

\---

Renata and Minnie were busy cuddling on the couch when Sophie came into the living room, groaning loudly as she walked through and slamming the bathroom door behind her. A few minutes later, the bathroom door opened and Sophie strode out, a bleak look within her eyes as she headed toward the kitchen. The couple shared a look.

“Did you hear the toilet flush?” Minnie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Renata shrugged. “I was focused on other things,” She giggled as she began to place kisses down Minnie’s jawline only to stop in confusion as Sophie walked by again, snapping a disposable glove onto her hand. The pair watched in curiosity as she entered the bathroom and closed the door once more. The sounds behind it were muffled, but they could still make out a few groans and exclamations of disgust. A loud “Oh, God!” was heard before the sound of a toilet flushing a few seconds later. Sophie emerged from the bathroom soon afterward, looking utterly despondent.

“Soph, what’s going on?” Minnie asked with concern. She patted the couch beside her for Sophie to sit.

Sophie shook her head, her expression grim. “It’s awful. Too awful to share,”

“Well now we have to know,” Renata declared, climbing out of Minnie’s lap and sitting down on her other side.

Sophie’s lower lip trembled. “Marlon was going to propose last night,”

Both girls let out exclamations of surprise and joy before falling silent.

“Wait a minute, what do you mean was?” Minnie asked, her eyes hardening.

“Do we need to talk some sense into him?” Renata hit a fist to her palm, a threatening look in her eyes.

“No! It’s not his fault! It was mine! I… I ate the ring!” Sophie plopped down on the couch beside them, her head in her hands.

“…Ate it?” Minnie’s tone was incredulous.

Sophie nodded. “It’s a long story. Actually, not that long. I got excited about dessert and ate it without even noticing it was there. I’m such an idiot,”

“Don’t worry, Soph!” Renata reached out, patting her best friend on the shoulder. “Everybody makes mistakes! And if you were doing what I think you were in that bathroom, I’m sure you’ll find the ring sooner or later. We’ll be cheering from the sidelines until you do!”

“Thanks, I guess,” It wasn’t much help, but there wasn’t really anything to be done in this situation other than what she was already doing. Sophie lay against the couch pillows, closing her eyes in misery. _How long is this going to take?_

\---

It was three days later that Marlon received a phone call at 10:28 P.M. Seeing it was Sophie, he immediately accepted the call. “Soph?”

“Yes, I will marry you!”

Marlon’s heart soared at those words. Did that mean?... “You found the ring?”

“I did, and it’s beautiful! You did a great job picking it out! Oh, Mar…” He could tell from her tone that Sophie had been crying. They were happy tears though. “All those days waiting for this moment, all the times I stuck my hand in the toilet and searched through…” A gagging sound came from the other end of the line. “That’s not important. It was all worth it for this. Marlon Davis, I will marry you. I love you!”

“I love you too,” Marlon felt his own eyes pricking with tears. “Just wait there, babe, I’m coming over. I’m gonna give you a proper proposal, one that will knock your socks off.

“I can’t wait. I’ll be cradling this ring next to my heart till then,”

“I’ll be there before you know it!” Marlon declared, stumbling as he tried to get his pants on. Hanging up the phone, he snatched up the proposal speech he’d written in the weeks leading up to the big night. He’d memorized it for that night but of course hadn’t been able to say it and now he knew he’d be too flustered to remember any of it at all. Grabbing his car keys, Marlon slammed the door behind him, his heart racing. This time it was for real. He was proposing to Sophie. And he already knew her answer. He was one hell of a lucky guy.


End file.
